2009 Annual Report: Highlights

The 2009 Annual Report is now available. A summary of the highlights of 2009 is available below. Download:  Annual Review 2009 (PDF) (623 Kb)  2009 Highlights Summary Document (PDF) (38 Kb).

Staff

• Lyn Craig was awarded a five year QEII Fellowship (Australian Research Council to undertake a study on Time equity and the balancing of market and non market production in the modern Australian population.
• Karen Fisher awarded the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Research Fellowship.
• Deborah Brennan was elected to the Academy of Social Sciences Australia.
• Peter Saunders was elected as the President of Foundation for International Studies on Social Security. He was also appointed as an Academic Advisor and Honorary Professor by the China Research Centre on Ageing; and a member of the committee reviewing the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford.
• Ilan Katz was appointed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Vietnam Veterans’ Study and to the Research Advisory Committee of Growing up in Care, the Longitudinal Study of children in out of home care in New South Wales by the NSW Human Services Department (Community Services).
• Sarah Maddison jointly received the Henry Mayer Prize for Black Politics, and the Churchill Fellowship.
• Bettina Cass was invited to present a paper for the Expert Group Meeting on Policies to Advance Social Integration, at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development [Download the paper (PDF)]
• Chris Deeming won two Social Policy Association (UK) awards for papers based on his PhD research. Chris won the best Early Career Researcher prize and the best postgraduate paper award.
• Natasha Cortis was awarded a UNSW Post-doctoral fellowship to research the organisation, delivery and evaluation of social services.
• Roger Patulny was awarded an ARC Post-doctoral fellowship to examine gendered social inclusion and connection in Australia.
• Megan Blaxland, Jasmine Bruce, Abigail Powell, Melissa Wong and Akiko Usuda were awarded their PhDs.
• Saul Flaxman and Anna Zhu were awarded APA Scholarships and will commence their post-graduate studies in 2010.

Research:
SPRC was awarded four Linkage grants during 2009 focusing on the use of evidence in Indigenous policy making; young people with disability in China; Social disadvantage and tax-benefits for families. During 2009, the Centre was engaged in 81 research projects including - 3 ARC Discovery grants, new projects for business and development agencies in Asia-Pacific region. The research program on Chinese Social policy has continued to grow with projects focusing on child protection, ageing, and disability rights.
[SPRC Research Program, 2009 (PDF) (77 Kb)]

Higher Degree Research
In 2009 the Centre was able to directly enrol students for the first time, and the HDR Program expanded to 18 students. The SPRC offers a unique opportunity for higher degree by research study at PhD and Masters by Research in areas that explore and extend the theory and practice of social policy in Australia and internationally. Higher degree research students enjoy a rich, collegial research culture and the benefit of studying within a centre recognized for its excellence in social policy research and engagement with other academics, government and non-government policy makers and service providers, forging effective knowledge-creation partnerships.
[SPRC Higher Degree Research Students]

Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit:
In February 2009 the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences announced the creation of the Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit (IPDRU). The SPRC has undertaken administrative responsibility for the Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit during its development stage. IPDRU appointed a unit Director, Professor Patrick Dodson, with Associate Professor Sarah Maddison appointed as Research Director. IPDRU was launched by Sir William Deane on the 20th August 2009. Over 400 people attended the launch and a lecture given by Professor Dodson.

At the end of 2009 IPDRU employed seven staff, Professor Patrick Dodson, Unit Director, A/Prof Sarah Maddison, Research Director, researchers, Darryl Cronin, Rochelle Coggan and Shelley Williams; and administrators Carol Sullivan and Lyall Munro.

Australian Social Policy Conference:
The 11th Australian Social Policy conference was held during 2009. Marking the Centre's increasing engagement with colleagues in Asia (and especially China) the conference included a one day workshop on Chinese Social Policy. More than 40 delegates attended the workshop. The goal of the workshop was to strengthen links between researchers in Australia and China.

Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AC, Governor General of Australia paid tribute to the work of the Centre during her opening address. The conference discussed what is meant by an inclusive society? The keynote addresses were by Naomi Eisenstadt, Tom Calma and Ann Orloff. The conference program also included more than 150 contributed papers. [view the program]

Australian Social Policy Association
The SPRC facilitated the creation of the Australian Social Policy Association (ASPA) in 2009. ASPA was launched during the July Australian Social Policy Conference. The President of the ASPA is Professor Peter Saunders and the Treasurer is Melissa Roughley.

UN Development Report
The Social Policy Research Centre also hosted the South Pacific consultation on the 2010 Human Development Report. The consultation discussed, in the context of the Asia-Pacific region, the areas of social inclusion, indigenous peoples' rights, governance and accountability, and public finance. The consultation was attended by delegates from a range of non-government organisations including the Benevolent Society, The Smith Family, the Oaktree Foundation and the Fred Hollows Foundation. Representatives from AusAID, the Australian Council for International Development, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and five additional Australian universities also contributed to the consultation. More information about the consultation available here (PDF).

University Engagement:
SPRC staff presented papers at a International Research Workshop held in February. The workshop enabled the centre to present research to colleagues throughout the Asia Pacific region with the aim of developing collaborative research programs with colleagues in University's across the Asia-Pacific region.

Two UNSW Research Showcases focusing on Well-being and Indigenous Research were held during 2009. The SPRC contributed papers to both of these events. The showcases were implemented to develop, maintain and strengthen links accross the university, and inform stakeholders of current reserch at UNSW.

Community Engagement:
During 2009 the Centre was engaged in projects with 35 funding bodies including Federal and State Government Departments, non government organisations and international organisations, and the Centre is partnered in this research by a growing list of government agencies, non-government organisations and academic institutions. The list of SPRC research featured in the media during 2009 is available here.

Dissemination
The Centre communicates the findings of completed and ongoing research projects to inform the social policy debate within Australia and globlally and contribute to the development of academic knowledge.
2009 Publication list (PDF) (134 Kb).